


Bridging the Distance

by DoubleL27



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Kidnapping, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-22
Updated: 2016-02-18
Packaged: 2018-03-25 06:27:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3800266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoubleL27/pseuds/DoubleL27
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Storybook, Maine is the perfect seaside town in which to raise your kids.  The pace is slow, the townsfolk knows everyone and the tourists keep things afloat in the summer. The illusion is shattered when two boys go missing on their way home from school.  Now their parents must work together to find them and figure out who is behind their disappearance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Nephelite and OutlawQueenLuvr for bringing this prompt to my attention. This is my first long fic in awhile. I hope you all enjoy.

They raced down the street. April Break was the first real freedom of the year. In Maine, it was the first warm time off from school since the summer previous and the fifty-four degree day felt fabulous. Henry ran to keep up with Roland who whizzed down the street on his skateboard, long curls flowing around his face. They had a whole week of nothingness to face and Henry was not about to waste it. Roland wasn't about to either. 

The skateboard ran into the step in front of The Corner Market and Roland hopped off with a practiced move that landed him on his feet. A month ago he had landed on his face too many times to count trying to get that move just right. Henry wanted no part.

"You know what the worst thing about seventh grade is?" Roland asked, tucking the skateboard under his arm. 

Henry tilted his head as they went down their usual snack aisle. "What?"

"The homework over breaks! It cannot be a break if we have homework. Ms. Blanchard wants us to write a whole paper,"

Henry sighed and shook his head. "We have had three weeks to write that paper already. Mine is nearly done."

"Of course it is." Roland shook his head as he grabbed a bag of Wise ruffles and Jax cheese puffs. "Don't tell me you have nearly finished the history project Mr. Archimedes gave."

Henry laughed. Roland had been his best friend since they were kids. It had been solidified in Kindergarden when Mother's Day was approaching and Roland had burst into tears. His mom had died a few months before, and Henry had been the only one who knew what it was like to be missing one parent had gone and told him he could make a gift for his mom to have in heaven. Henry made one for his dad every year. So Roland had sat beside him and they had both made their Mother's Day gifts. 

Still, Roland wasn't likely to do anything until the end of the week when they had had their fill of X-Box and comics and hanging around. "No. He really did give that to us today. It's okay, if you ask, I am sure Ms. French at the library will help you out."

Roland swiped at Henry with the bag of cheese puffs before turning into the sweet aisle. Henry followed behind, hitching up his bag on his shoulder. If his mom new he had a new project she would probably have him setting down to start planning it out so he could get it done with maximum efficiency. She was really good at efficiency. It was why she was the mayor. Henry wondered if Mr. Locksley would be the same. "Your dad really won't mind us hanging around and playing X-Box all day?"

Roland rolled his eyes. "When has my dad ever minded? I think he likes having you around. It lets him pretend our family is bigger, you know. They would have had more than me if Mom had lived. 'Sides, what are you going to do otherwise? Go home to your huge house and read and do homework?"

"Yeah. Probably."

A pack of peach rings was added to the pile and Henry grabbed Oreos. Roland flashed Henry the bright grin that had been his mark nearly all their lives. "Instead we are going to go to my house and kill some virtual people. It's a much better deal."

"True," Henry answered, returning Roland's grin with one of his own. "Hey, do you think you could talk your dad into letting you go to Comic Con in Boston this year? It should be awesome."

"I wish," Roland complained letting out a breath, "One, letting me leave Dad's sight outside of town is the number one no-no. Two if my dad had the money I would have new sneakers."

"Mom could pay for you."

"Ha! You have met my father. No charity. You remember the time your mom sent me home in a pair of your jeans and told me to keep them."

Roland and his father had shown up on the doorstep with the pair of folded jeans, smelling of fresh detergent. Mom and Mr. Locksley had sent them to the back and had proceeded to argue about charity and what people did or did not need and taking care of kids. They hadn't really spoken since, their parents, except about their kids when they had to. 

"Another year then," Henry said sadly. 

Mom would probably take the time off to take him if Henry asked, but he wouldn't want to to without Roland. Mom always tried her best to talk to him about comics and she liked some of his stories and anime and movies but it wouldn't be the same without someone who understood it like breathing. 

Roland nudged him. "Hey, in two years I can get a permit to work at Tom Thumb's Grocery. I can spend the whole year saving up for it. If your mom springs for the hotel, I will totally go."

"Awesome."

"Let's go."

They threw their snacks up onto the counter and Henry pulled out his wallet before Roland could argue. He had twenty from his allowance which covered the snacks and the energy drinks. There was more for the pizza they would order for dinner. 

Laughing about the latest issue of Avengers, they spilled out onto the street. Henry swung both of the bags slightly as he tried to keep up with rolling Roland and his one bag. He would play games that his mother would not allow in the house and have far too much sugar. It would be awesome. 

Or it would have been until the hand vised down on his shoulder and something hard poked into his back. 

~*~

"Roland? Henry?" Robin called, wiping his hands on his stained jeans as he moved from his workshop into the house. Silence greeted him. He had assumed since he had been using the buzz saw and other large materials they hadn't entered the workshop for safety's sake. "It's too quiet in here."

Usually, upon emerging from his workshop the sounds of riotous gunfire and laughter filled the whole small house. Today it sounded like it had when they were six and had written all over the walls of the living room. Silence from the inseparable duo usually meant trouble. "Guys?" 

Swinging from the kitchen to the living room, Robin noted the worn, brown couch was empty and the large TV and various game systems were off. Shaking his head, he climbed the stairs to where the two dormered bedrooms were. "Roland? Henry?"

Robin knocked on the door. No answer. "Roland," he called again, "I am coming in."

Twisting the knob, Robin entered. The old, Pokemon bedspread that Roland was nearly grown out of practically resembled a ball on the bed, more rumpled than the sheets beneath. Comic books and action figures and all other paraphernalia of being a young boy was scattered over the floor. What it was missing were the two usual boys who were spread across the room. 

A pit formed in his stomach. It was the same pit he had been unable to get rid of since a typical ultrasound towards the end of her pregnancy had shown something abnormal on Marian's ovary. Even after they had known she would never get better, even after she had left him and their boy behind, the pit never left. Robin took deep breaths in through his nose and tried to tell himself that nothing horrible had happened, even if his gut was telling him it was. His gut rarely lied.

The door gaped open behind him like a large mouth as he took the stairs two at a time and barged into his workroom. Grabbing his cell phone he flipped through his messages. The last one from Roland read Out. Grabbing snacks. Home in 20. That had been two and a half hours ago and Robin's house was still empty.

Robin clicked on the contact twice. Roland's smiling face, nearly a year out of date, smiled up at him as the phone rang. The only sounds were the endless ring and the beating of his heart before there was a click. "Roland. Roland, where the hell are you-"

"Hey, I am not able to pick up this phone. If I know you, I'll call back. If not, you shouldn't have this number."

"Damn it, Roland. Call me or enter this house in the next five minutes or I am calling the police. I am not kidding."

It was likely not the best message a parent could leave on a child's phone but the amount of patience he normally had stored up would be gone. If Marian we're here with her calm voice and endless patience and her ability to make him feel small, Robin would probably be handling this a whole lot better. Roland might actually answer her phone call. She wasn't though and he was in this alone.

I didn't sign up for doing this alone, Marian, he thought at her. If she could even hear him. I promise I won't kill the boy once I find him.

Robin poked at his phone until Henry's contact popped up. While his own son had picked up on his own sneaky habits, Henry was as straight forward as his mother had always been. To a fault, even, which Robin considered a gift. If they were doing something they were not supposed to. Henry would still answer and likely tell him the truth. Then he would skin them both and deliver Henry to Regina for his own skinning. 

Again, the ringing consumed his mind and he watched as the time on the display flipped from 6:05 to 6:06. When it clicked over rather than a human voice, an automated voice sounded, "You have reached 207-555-3298. Leave a name, number and I will get back to you."

Robin cursed again,before taking a deep breath. In the calmest voice he could manage, Robin said, "Henry Mills, this is Mr. Locksley. I need you to call me back right away. I need to know where you and Roland are."

He clicked off the phone and Robin's brain began to race. Maybe they were safely at someone else's house. There weren't many other people they hung out with. Hopefully it was just a small misunderstanding and he could appropriately ground his son for the length of his vacation, never to leave again without permission. 

"Hey, Mike," Robin said, when the voice on the other end picked up. He ran a hand through his hair. "Roland and Henry didn't come home with Nick and Ava by any chance, did they? No, no. They were supposed to be over here but no sign of them. Thanks. If the kids know anything let me know."

"Jefferson, Roland and Henry aren't over playing with Grace are they? No. Alright. Just a little mix up."

"Rachelle, Roland didn't come home with Jake did he? No. No, but if you hear from him, let me know."

After a few more fruitless calls, Robin grabbed his coat and headed for his truck. The sun was already starting to hang low in the sky. Roland knew in no uncertain terms that he would always have to be home before sunset. He was going to drive around this whole town until he found the boys and then they were going to hear from him about how this was never to happen ever again. 

The briefs on kids going missing flipped through his head. The first 24 hours were crucial. But who would take the boys. Neither of them had a parent with whom there was a negative custody battle. Robin never had an issue with his or Marian's family. Regina's family were not the most friendly, from what he remembered, but it wasn't as if any of them were going to just take Henry. Her family wasn't very motherly. The boys were outside of the ages of the usual family abductions.

Which left a far more dangerous level of abductions.

But he was not going there, Robin reminded himself as he twisted the key in the ignition and brought the truck roaring to life. The boys could be at the beach or on their old haunt of a castle like structure. There were dozens of places that the boys could be. If he just kept telling himself that it might be true.

Driving around town, there was no sign of them. He popped into the corner store where the boys usually picked up their junk food. 

"Hey Mr. Locksley," Jimmy who was behind the counter greeted him.

"Hey Jimmy. You didn't happen to see Roland and Henry earlier, did you?" Robin hoped he had kept most of the panic out of his voice. 

"Yeah," Jimmy said with a grin, "They were in like three hours ago, picking up a mountain of junk. You know your kid."

"Indeed I do." His boy was entirely too predictable and was sure he had gotten all kinds of snacks. For the first time in the past hour, Robin felt a smile pulling across his mouth. At least someone had seen the boys in the last few hours. "You don't remember anything about their conversation, by any chance, do you?"

Jimmy, who Robin still remembered from youth outreach programs the officers used to put on at the school smiled. "The usual: comics, video games, what to do with a whole week off. Weren't they heading to your house?"

"Yeah. Never showed."

Jimmy gaped at him like a fish for a minute, which might have been amusing another time. "Shit, Mr. Locksley, should we call the police?"

"Not yet. I'm hoping they just got distracted. Not much they can do yet," Robin said, feeling the importance that was far too familiar to his life. 

Nothing would happen if they called yet. The boys hadn't been missing for long enough. Sheriff Nottingham would likely suggest that the boys had run away. Something lovely about Roland's terrible influence as passed on to him by his terrible father. Robin would need something more concrete. 

"Thanks anyways, Jimmy. Let me know if they come by again, please."

"Will do."

Robin gave a wave and stepped out onto the street and there, something caught his eye. Laying in the bush was a skateboard he knew far too well and a bag of Jax puffs and Oreos lay beneath it. Robin's blood froze in his veins. This was the concrete evidence he had needed. Roland hadn't gone anywhere without that skateboard for the last two years. 

Pulling out his phone he snapped a few quick pictures before calling the police.

~*~

Regina sighed and looked down at her paperwork again. Working out the budget was one of her favorite games to play. The reason she kept being elected mayor was because she was good at it. Regina knew how to balance a budget and keep everything moving. She knew how to secure money from the tourists and give her people a break. 

Looking up from her notes, Regina began to speak from memory. "I am telling you, the answer is to raise the parking rates. Our meters are still running on nickels. Portland and Ogunquit are at a dollar an hour. We also need to look at the rates for daily parking in municipal lots. This winter was hard and next likely won't be better and the town is riddled with potholes. We have serious fixes that we need to make if we are going to continue to compete with towns like Ogunquit and York."

The blonde sitting in the chair across from her grinned. "Well you have my vote." 

Regina rolled her eyes and threw her pen down on her desk. Today was far too long for a Friday. Tomorrow morning she would sleep in and then make Henry brunch. Right now, she needed to finish things here. "Trina, I always have your vote."

"Exactly, I am not the one you have to convince."

"I can over-rule the damn council if need be," Regina muttered as she carefully placed her pen back where it belonged. Council meetings were not her favorite. Mostly because the five-member team liked to believe they were the ones who had authority in this town when she was the rightful mayor and they had minute powers. 

Such was the way of the chess game that was small-town politics. She put aside her town work and looked up at Trina. "How are repairs on the farm going?"

Trina quickly provided a folder. Regina compared the estimated budget versus the actual budget. It seemed that they were staying on track. "Good," Trina supplied as Regina perused the figures. "Geppetto has been working on them with Robin Locksley and Stable Haven should be ready for tourists as soon as May 10th. Registration for summer camp is also full and we have a wait-list for about 15 kids and counting."

"Excellent." Regina closed the file and smiled at Trina. "Daniel would be pleased." The farm and bed and breakfast had been his dream and Regina never could bring herself to sell the property or the dream. 

"Sven is an excellent manager."

"He knows his hoofed mammals and young people." Sven was awkward around adults however, and Regina had little use for the man when it came to conversation. He did take great care of the horses, including her own. "Do we have someone to run the bed and breakfast?"

"Not yet, but we should have a list of people to interview by the end of the week. Anything else?"

Her eyes glanced to the cell phone in the corner and she flipped it up. Usually, Henry texted her when he got safely to a friend's house. He was 12 however, and was likely invested in whatever horrible video game Roland was introducing him to today. Sighing, she put the phone back where it belonged and forced her shoulders to retreat down her back. "No. I think that is it."

Trina stood up with a smile and a nod. "Don't stay too late, boss. You do have a kid to pick up after all."

"He could stay up all night at Roland's. Go on home, Trina. I won't be here too much longer."

"You got it."

Before her assistant could gather all of her things and head back out into the office space beyond Regina's office, the voice of one of the secretaries came through the door. "You know you can't just go in there! Sir! Sir!"

"Like hell I can't," an angry growl responded. Regina felt a chill wash over her. It sounded like Robin, but Regina decided to "I can go anywhere I damn please. This is an emergency."

Trina held up a hand to Regina. "I've got this. You stay here. No crazies in the mayor's office this late at night."

"Regina!" The voice called, and it sounded strangely like Robin. Which was crazy, because he was at home filling their kids full of junk food. "I do not care who she is meeting with; this is about our sons!"

"Let him in," Regina commanded, sounding far more put together than she felt. Her hands shook by her sides so she fisted them instead as she looked at the man who was entering her office. "Robin, what happened?"

"The boys didn't come home. I got a text from Roland that they were on their way just stopping at the convenience store, and then nothing. They don't always pop into the workshop if I am onto something large so I didn't think about it until I went looking for them. Neither Henry or Roland will answer their phones. I have called all of their friends. I drove all over this town and found this."

"And that is?"

"Roland's skateboard. He never goes anywhere without it. There was a bag of sprawled junk food with it."

Trina glanced between the two parents who were just staring at each other. Laughing nervously, she offered. "The boys could be off doing something foolish. They are at that age. When I was twelve-"

"Not our boys," Regina and Robin answered at the same time. 

Lips pursed, Regina considered the situation. Henry and Roland might have been just shy of teenagers but they were never this careless. It was why they were trusted to head home by themselves. 

"Did you call the sheriff?" Regina asked, mind spiraling out trying to think of where they might be. 

Robin barked out an angry laugh. "His response was similar to your friend's," he answered, nodding his head in Trina's direction. She watched the way his jaw clenched, felt the anger building within herself. "Said if I were a better parent I would know where my own kid was. Promised he would keep an eye out."

"Bastard. Don't know how he has gotten elected so many times."

Regina's hand was on the receiver, ready to dial and give Nottingham a piece of her mind when her cell phone began to ring. Flipping it over, she was graced with Henry's smiling face beaming up at her and his name. Relief flooded through her as she pressed the green button and lifted the phone to her ear.

"Henry."

"Mom."

Tears pooled at the corners but she refused to let them fall. "Oh thank god," she breathed, her voice shaking on the first few words. Taking a deep breath, Regina reminded herself she could fall apart later. "You tell me where you are right now young man and stay put. I will be right there to get you."

"I am glad I have your attention Mrs. Mills," an electronic voice croaked through the phone. 

All the relief slid from her body and drained into the floor. Her knees buckled and Robin's strong hands gripped her arms, keeping her from falling. Her grip was still tight on the phone. Where are they? He mouthed. 

Regina shrugged and shook her head as Robin guided her into one of the chairs. "Mrs. Mills, do I have your attention?" The voice crackled across the line again. 

The tears were long since gone and anger now flooded her veins, making the room feel like it was over 100 degrees inside her office. "You bring my son home to me and I will talk to you," Regina growled into the phone. "Not a moment before."

The words never negotiate with terrorists floated through her mind. She was not the president though. She was just the mayor of a town and this was her son. What could anyone want from her? 

The voice on the other end made a staticky tsk, tsk, noise. "We are not one to be making demands, Mrs. Mills. Not when I have your son and his raggedy friend."

"What do you want!"

"That will be revealed. So long as you follow all demands, the boys will be returned in one piece."

The phone clicked off and Regina stared at the device in her hand. Someone had her baby. The only thing in the universe she truly cared about any longer and someone was holding him captive. Whoever it was did not know that few people messed with Regina Mills and walked away. Particularly not when it came to her child.

Glancing up, she realized Robin was kneeling in front of her chair. His blue eyes were searching her face as if he could gain information from her expression alone. "They have the boys," she told him, and felt Robin's hands relax from the armrests he had been clenching. "No demands yet but there was a promise of them. I don't know if they are going to call or leave notes. Do people even still do that magazine clipping note thing anymore or was that just the movies?"

She was rambling. Regina was never in complete control when she was rambling. She closed her eyes and fought to tamp down on the panic. Panic never did anyone any good. Mother had taught her that. 

"When I did my last missing persons training, before I left the force, it was mostly hidden IP address emails and burner phones. Typed notes are also hard to trace and easier to make than magazine cut outs."

Regina nodded. That was something. Still, not knowing if she was waiting for a call or an email or a note slid under the door made waiting agony. 

"Call Nottingham and have him come in to take our statements," Robin instructed and forced himself into a standing position. "You have had a call from the kidnappers on Henry's phone. It's something at least."

Trina stood up, clearly flustered and began at rapid speed. "I'll call and get some waters. Or tea? Coffee? Just hang tight."

She slipped out the door in a flash. Regina was grateful that just for a moment others were taking the lead. Turning her chair, she glanced out over Main Street and the way the street lights were coming on to light up the darkness. Normally, Henry would be almost ready to come home and they would read before bedtime; something he still hadn't grown out of on her just yet. 

Taking a last deep breath, Regina stood and faced Robin who looked just as lost as she felt. "What do we do next?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sheriff's department comes to collect evidence and Roland and Henry try to make sense of what is happening.

Somewhere in the time between the phone call and the arrival of the police, Regina's email came to life.  They were from anonymous, which normally would get sent directly to the trash but the subject line of YOUR SON had her clicking through.  Regina clenched her teeth as the image of Henry and Roland tied up in the back of a van or truck came up on the screen.  A hand vised on her shoulder and looking up, Regina saw Robin standing behind her also staring at the screen.

 

There was no return address there was no tag giving any information about where the email had come from.  Just the picture of the two boys, arms tied together with rope and the word UNHARMED.  Roland's long dark brown curls fell into his face, obscuring his eyes.  Henry's eyes were visible though and Regina was proud to see there was some anger in there with the fear.  

 

How to get them out and home safely was the next problem.  Were they even still in the back of this vehicle?  There was nothing major that identified what they were inside of, at least not to Regina's eyes.

 

"White van," Robin answered her as if she had read his mind.

 

Regina glanced around the picture, trying to get any identifying details.  "How do you know?"

 

"The inside."  Robin's tan hand slid past her head and began noting details on the screen.  "If it were a larger truck there would be wood on the sides to tie large things to so they don't fall.  The walls also slope up slightly. If it were a freezer truck they would be perpendicular to the top."

 

A ping went off and a envelope popped up in the corner of her display with the anonymous tag and the words: FIRST REQUEST.

 

Regina's hand hovered over the mouse before she clicked.  Her stomach roiled as she waited for the screen to load. What did they want from her?  Why would they feel the need to take her son to get her to do it?

 

YOU WILL PROPOSE SIGNIFICANT TAX BREAKS TO LOCAL BUSINESSES AND RENTAL PROPERTIES IN THE UPCOMING BUDGET MEETINGS.

 

"Are they insane?" She blurted.

 

"What?"

 

Regina gaped at the screen.  "They want to cripple my town and use my son to do it."

 

Her mind raced.  There were people on the council who wanted to decrease taxes like this, but enough to take her son?  There were business people as well that could see this going in their favor.  But still, to take Henry and think they could just get away with it.  It made no sense to her.  Whoever it was would have to be someone the boys would at least recognize.

 

It didn't make sense.

 

"This will cripple the town?" Robin asked, gaping at her.

 

Regina scoffed and rolled her eyes.  Why did people insist on knowing so little about their government structure?  No one made informed decisions anymore.  That was quite clear.  "Where do you think we get most of our money?  Rental properties are huge and the taxes on them are higher than our full residential homes."

 

"Who would want this?"

 

She went through the list in her head, poring over the names and faces in her mind and hoping that one would stick out.  "Anyone who wants to keep more money or make things easier for them to afford.  Lots of people in town own rental properties that they fill in the summer."

 

Staring at the message, Regina tried to understand.  Usually people just wanted money.  Money she could handle giving over.  Control of her town, however, was another matter entirely.  Throwing the whole town into chaos and this was only the first request.   After the budget for the year was set, there would be little she could do to rectify this.

 

Trina's pale face was covered with a blush as her high-binned head dipped back in, "Regina, the Sheriff and Deputies Piccolo and duLac are here."

 

Brushing right past Trina without a second thought was Sheriff Nottingham.  He voice dripped with charming tones, "I came right over, Regina.  Had I realized the importance-"

 

Her jaw clenched, wishing she could burn him where he stood.   "It is Madam Mayor to you, Sheriff and had you listened when Robin called you the first time we might be a step closer to finding them," she reminded him in short tones as the round, curly haired Deputy Piccolo and the tall, broad Deputy du Lac followed in behind him.

 

Eric Nottingham's grin froze on his face but did not fall.   He rubbed at his coarse stubble before gesturing to her to take a seat again.  "Of course, Madam Mayor.  Let's get started so that we can find the boys as quickly as possible." His tone changed as he looked behind her at Robin, who still stood rooted to the spot he had been in when the officers entered.  "You were the first to realize their disappearance, Mr. Locksley?"

 

Raising an eyebrow, Regina looked past the officers to where her assistant remained in the doorway.  "Trina, would you bring some refreshments for the officers?"  She moved around her desk with practiced grace and came to the gathering of chairs and sofas that Regina preferred for informal meetings. "Why don't we all have a seat and we can talk here."

 

Nottingham followed and took a seat in the large, wingback chair that always reminded Regina of her mother, neither of the deputies sat but stood behind the sheriff, each off to either side looking less than comfortable.  When Robin came and sat on the couch, Regina sat beside him. Their children were missing together and in Regina's mind that put them on the same team. 

 

Once everyone was settled, Nottingham opened his notepad and fixed his gaze on Robin. "Mr. Locksley, you were the first to become aware of the disappearance of the boys?"   

 

Regina watched as Robin squeezed his hands together and released three times, before he spoke. "Yes.  They were supposed to come to my house straight after school.  I received a text around 3:30 that they were on their way to get snacks and be home."

 

"School gets out at 2:30, doesn't it?" Nottingham questioned, making notes on his pad.  "Why would they wait so long?"

 

"Henry takes band after school.  He plays clarinet," she clarified, glancing to Robin.  "It gets out at 3:30."

 

Robin caught her gaze and nodded.  Something inside his blue eyes made her feel calmer than she had since the messages rolled in. "Roland waits outside unless he has detention."

 

Nottingham looked up sharply with a sneer.  "Did he?"

 

"Did he what?"

 

"Have detention?"

 

Robin's eyes were filled with ice as he clipped out, "No."

 

To her trained eye, the deputies looked even less comfortable than they had before.  They reminded her of any time she had watched her mother go in for the kill, so to speak, when roasting people. Likely they felt for their boss the way she did her mother.  

 

Exasperated, she snapped at the sheriff, "I don't understand what this has to do with anything.  The boys are missing and you need to find them."

 

His smile was smug and she wanted to take her hand to his cream colored face.  "Just getting an idea of what their routine is and who might have known about that."  He smiled but covered it quickly, and Regina wished the mayor had the power to recall a sheriff.  "And what time did you notice them missing?"

 

"Around six.  I finished up work in my shop in the garage and came out to find them.  We typically order pizza if they aren't too full on junk but they weren't playing on the Xbox, they weren't in Roland's room.  That's when I tried calling them and got no answer and then I began calling friends to see if they had gone somewhere else."

 

Nottingham continued his lazy scrawl across the page. "I assume those calls are logged in your phone."

 

"Yes," Robin When they weren't found at any friends' homes I began canvassing the neighborhood."

 

"Why didn't you call the Sheriff's office then?"

 

Robin barked out a laugh and sat back on the couch, folding his arms over his chest. "Two twelve year old boys who had been missing for three hours?  They are good boys and they don't just go missing without telling anyone, but mischief does begin to happen at that stage.   I didn't call until after I had gone in the convenience store and found Roland's skateboard."

 

"Are you certain it's his skateboard?"

 

"Of course I am certain.  It has all his stickers on it and his name."

 

Nottingham nudged the skateboard with his foot as if it's existence offended him.  "You removed this from the crime scene?"

 

Robin ran a hand through his hair and yanked at the ends.  "When I called you it wasn't a crime scene, or at least that is what you told me.  I took photos of how it looked before I picked it up.  I just didn't want some kid to take it on their way by. You can have it for evidence."

 

Nottingham continued to scribble and frowned. "So you allegedly found this skateboard in the bushes and knew that your son had been kidnapped?"

 

"He never goes anywhere without it."

 

"What are you suggesting?" Regina cut in sharply.  The way that Nottingham had thrown the word allegedly in there bothered her.

 

"He's suggesting that I planted it there after kidnapping the boys."

 

"Do you have an alibi?" Nottingham returned.  

 

"Is this your way of telling me I may need a lawyer?"

 

"This is absurd!" Regina interjected finally.  She was not here to play games with Nottingham.  Whatever issues Robin and the sheriff had were none of her business.  Certainly, it could have nothing to do with finding Henry.  "His child is missing as is mine.  Find the real person who did this."

 

"Family members are the most likely to kidnap children," Nottingham drawled, leaning back in his chair as his lip curled up like smoke, "It's part of the job. Robin understands."

 

Robin nodded tightly, but didn't speak.  Regina glanced between the two men who seemed to be having some sort of conversation she couldn't quite get in on.  Whatever it was, it wasn't pleasant. This was insanity.  There was not going to be a fucking contest of the dicks keeping her son from her. She would not have it.  

 

"Robin called you and then when you wouldn't help," Regina snapped, not willing to wait for the next question,"he came to me to tell me the boys were missing and that's when I got the call.  It was from Henry, but it wasn't just Henry.  The kidnapper came on after and told me that he and his friend were fine but only so long as I was useful."

 

"I see." Nottingham sat up at that and leaned forward.  If nothing else, being the mayor and Cora's daughter had its benefits. "Could you identify this man?"

 

Regina ransacked her mind for some small detail that could help the case.  As it was, there was nothing she could think of. "I don't know if it was a man.  The person sounded like a robot, but Henry sounded like Henry."  She knew he had been alive less than an hour ago.  It would have to be enough to get her through. "Then the emails came."

 

"Let me see."

 

Regina stood and wound him through the furniture and over to the computer. She wondered if this wasn't a case for someone bigger than a small town sheriff who apparently had something to prove.  Katheryn would have to be asked about the best course of action here. Through she couldn't imagine telling anyone that her son was missing.  Closing her eyes to focus, Regina inhaled and exhaled, smoothing her skirt as she sat at the desk.  

 

With a few deft keystrokes, she was in.  The nightmare continued to be real.

 

~*~

 

The whole thing sucked.  Trying not to be scared when you were petrified was not one of Roland's strong suits, but he was working on it.   He hadn't felt normal since he had asked, "Am I right?" Three times with no answer.  He had turned on his skateboard to see two guys manhandling Henry into a truck.  Fear had pumped through him then but what must have been what his gran referred to as the 'Locksley gene of stupidity' kicked in and he turned around to face the men. 

 

When the gun had pointed at his chest, Roland had been terrified.  His dad crying after Mom died, at the funeral, at night when he thought Roland was asleep came to him in that moment.  If he died, what would his dad have?

 

Nothing.  So somehow he had talked the guys into taking him along with Henry and not shooting him.

 

Not the greatest plan ever but at least they both weren't dead.  

 

Roland wasn't sure how long they had driven in the van but now they were in a cabin somewhere in Maine's vast woods and it was dark.  Darker than it even got in Storybrooke.  There were no lights out here.  

 

Long shadows crept over the walls from the one lamp that sat on the wooden table in the corner. For whatever reason, they had been left untied but the chubby dude with the red hat and mask who had brought them in here was right outside.  Every now and then Roland could see him move through the window.  There was a light on outside and Roland was convinced the guy was talking to someone.  But who?

 

Henry sniffled and Roland looked over at his friend on the worn, flowered sofa.  Henry had been doing great until they had made him call Regina.  Hearing her voice had sent Henry over the edge.  It could have had to do with how the guy who had them kept it on speaker phone and how Ms. Mills had sounded when she asked what the guy wanted.

 

"They're going to find us," Roland said, trying to reassure himself as much as Henry, "You know."

 

Henry wiped at his eyes, but in that secretive, I may have had something in my eye way.  Roland knew that move well.  Henry squared his shoulders and gave Roland a bit of a smile.  "Of course they are going to find us.  I know that." Anything else was unthinkable.  Nothing good ever happened to kidnapped kids who weren't found.  "I just wish I knew what these guys wanted."

 

"Yeah, if we knew what they wanted, we might know what to expect."

 

"Exactly."

 

"Money!" Roland exclaimed. Not that his family had money, but he hadn't been the target.  Henry was.  And Henry's whole damn family was loaded. "Money is usually a factor, right?"

 

Every movie he had ever seen where a kid got snatched it was always for money.  Why else would you boost a kid?  Everyone was after money anyways.  It made the world go 'round.  If Henry's mom paid the money, they might just get to go home.  

 

"Yeah," Henry replied, but he didn't look happy about it, "but it's not like my mom is rich."

 

Roland just stared at Henry until his friend squirmed. "Maybe a little money but not like kidnapper money.  Don't kidnappers usually want like millions of dollars?"

 

They usually did.  Roland would have settled for way less, but he wasn't a kidnapper.  He thought about the situation.  If Henry's mom's house was big, his grandmother's house was enormous. The one time Roland had gone over there with Henry he had been terrified of breaking one of her statues or spilling anything on the legions of white that were in that house.  

 

"Doesn't your grandma have money?" Roland asked, bringing up the image of Henry's grandmother.

 

Henry sighed and leaned back against the couch.  "Not that she uses on us."

 

Roland leaned back as well and scraped his palms against the rough, wooden arms of his chair.   The cabin was a bit dingy and the bark still on the furniture was a super rustic Maine choice.  During the season, people probably paid way too much money for this place.  Anyone who could rent during the year shouldn't need to snatch kids either.  But here they were, trapped in a dingy cell that at least boasted a bed. 

 

"My mom is the mayor though.  Maybe it's someone who doesn't want her to be mayor anymore.  Or doesn't like what she does as mayor."

 

"So they kidnap you?"

 

"Who said kidnapping was a solid plan?" Henry asked.

 

It wasn't funny, but Roland laughed anyway.  "No one."

 

When he had escaped getting a goodbye kiss from his dad this morning because he was twelve and getting a goodbye kiss from your dad was gross, at least in America, he hadn't pictured he would end up here.  If it was dark, Dad definitely knew he was missing.  Things were rough enough, dad didn't need this too.  

 

"They regretted it when they kidnapped Franklin Richards," Henry said, clearly still on his earlier train of thoughts, "but he's the most powerful kid in the galaxy.  Oh," Henry continued, shooting up from the couch in excitement, "and when they kidnapped Nate Summers and brought him to the future he became Cable.  Huge mistake."

 

None of which applied to them as they were not born to mutants or individuals who had powers due to interstellar radiation.  "Cable is also super powerful, though and his mom is Jean Grey, who is so powerful she goes crazy."

 

"It's true."  Henry sighed and looked  out to the window.  "Sometimes I wish I had super powers."

 

"It would be nice."  Roland kicked at the coffee table but the thing stayed put.  Was it bolted to the floor.  "Instead we are just your average twelve year old kids."

 

Silence fell between them again.  Roland's mind went back to home and the pizza they would have eaten.  Dad would have wanted to play something like Super Smash Bros. And they would have pretended it was babyish when really it remained one of Roland's favorites.  

 

Then Dad would say,  Please, for your dear ol' Da. They would have relented and played that until Mrs. Mills came for Henry and Roland would beg for her to let him stay and she would promise later in the week.  

 

"Which superpower would you want most at this moment?"

 

Roland only had to think for a moment and he knew. "Teleportation.  If I were Nightcrawler we could have BAMFed right out of that truck and into my house and none of this shit would be happening."

 

Dad would force him into pajamas but they would play for another few hours yet. Sometimes, Roland woke up on Saturday mornings on the couch, covered by a blanket. It was one of the cool things about just having a dad.  He'd let you sleep on the couch rather than wake you up to go to your bed or get the little cereal boxes that turned into a bowl (though Roland always thought of them as monsters chests that had cereal inside instead of organs) because it saved dishes.

 

"I wouldn't mind psychic powers," Henry answered, bringing Roland back from his fantasy of it being morning and eating out of a chest box.   "Being able to force these guys into taking us home and then turning themselves in would be awesome.  Or invisibility, but we would both need to be able to go invisible, though, to get out."

 

Roland nodded.  They would need a miracle. At this point he just had to believe that his dad would do anything to find him and Mrs. Mills anything to find Henry.  Nothing else could be true.  

 

Roland shifted in the chair and felt something hard in his back pocket.  Frowning he shifted again, wondering what would be in there.  Fuck, it was his phone. If this end of the earth cabin got a signal, they might just have a chance.  

 

"Hey, is the guy still outside?" Roland asked, trying to casually get his hand in his back pocket. 

 

Henry craned his neck and shoved himself half off the couch as he peered out into the night. Silence blanketed the room before Henry lifted it with a, "Yeah.  Why?"

 

Working quickly, Roland twisted to get the phone free.  "Just make sure you let me know if it looks like he plans to come in, ok?"

 

"Why?"

 

Roland grinned as he lifted up the gift from his pocket. "They forgot to take my phone."

 

~*~

 

Being stuck in the stark black and white mayors office was starting to drive Robin insane.  Everything was posed for effect, the room, the art, the positioning of the furniture.  Likely the effect was to make you feel like Regina had authority and power, but it made him feel trapped.  His boy was out there, somewhere, and being forced to endure the questioning glare of Nottingham was lighting a fire inside.  Not even John's or Lance's presence could temper it. 

 

Anyone who knew him would know that he couldn't have taken his son.  He could barely discipline the boy who looked so much like his mother, Robin hated seeing any sort of fear or pain in his eyes.   Better if he could dissipate the darkness that he had not been able to remove from Marian's life.   The shadows had taken her but his son would grow old. 

 

"Being the mayor isn't popular, Sheriff," Regina sighed. Her crossed leg bounced with impatience as she ran her fingers through her hair.  "They elect me because I am competent and the town runs well under my care but I likely get more complaints than you.  Based on the demand, and from this week:  Moe French is peeved about zoning ordinances and the taxes that are levied against his shop.  Mr. Gold owns a significant portion of the rental properties and the mortgages on nearly every other property.  He also hates that I do not follow his every whim, but I didn't when he was married to my mother, either. My sister hates that my mother somewhat approves of my life choices and her mangey husband wishes he were mayor. My mother had hoped, after Daniel died, I would give my son up for adoption so I would not be burdened with children as she had been with us girls."  

 

She looked hollowed out as long fingers rubbed at her brow, causing canyons to form on her forehead and eroding them a moment later.  "Is that the kind of list you were looking for?"

 

The pad snapped shut and Robin wondered, unkindly, if the man had written anything of use. "You need to call if they contact you again.  This is no joke."

 

Regina stood and her glare was one to stop men in their tracks.  "No one is laughing, Sheriff Nottingham."

 

Robin was ready to go.  He would offer to see Regina home, once Nottingham left.  When he had told her the boys were missing, her eyes had gotten the same look they had when he had come to tell her about Daniel's accident on 95. Neither of them should be going home alone, but he would rather make sure she got in safe.  The longer he stayed away from his own empty home, Robin was certain would be the better. 

 

"What would she think if she were alive?" Nottingham challenged, pulling Robin away from his thoughts.  

 

The fire that had been burning exploded into an inferno.  Robin felt the hands press back against his arms and came to realize his feet were not on the floor.   Lance's large, brown hands had captured one arm while John's pale ones has snared the other. He felt the way his fists were clenched and could hear his hummingbird heart trying to escape his chest.  Everything was raised and all he wanted was to break Nottingham into pieces.  

 

Most of all, because Nottingham was not entirely off target.

 

It's not worth it.  You just need to get your son home, Robin reminded himself.  A night spent in the town jail would only tie up resources that needed to be dedicated to the return of Henry and Roland. 

 

Exhaling, Robin forced his stone shoulders to slide down his back.  His feet once again touched the floor.  

 

"How about we make sure you get home alright?" Lance's voice rumbled like quiet thunder and Robin knew it wasn't a threat. 

 

Nottingham smirked, "Yes, wouldn't want you arrested for assaulting the sheriff.  Still, detention frequently enough, missing on your watch."

 

Robin shook off the arms of his friends and stared down the man who had never forgiven him for winning a date with Marian when he never had been able to.  If Roland's life was not at stake, Robin would have done this man serious harm.  As it was, he needed Nottingham.   Had he been holding a badge still, he wouldn't have been allowed to wield it anyway.  

 

Robin wrenched his leather jacket off the back of the sofa and began stuffing his arms into the sleeves.  "What would she think of you not trying to find her son?"

 

"We'll be in touch," Nottingham insisted, and stalked out.  

 

Regina twisted her fingers together until it looked like she might injure herself.  . "Well, that was unpleasant," she said to the room at large.  

 

"Yes.  Nottingham has never been pleasant."

 

"Never should have left, Rob," John said.  The unsaid  you would be sheriff hung in the air.  

 

Too exhausted, Robin lifted a hand to his old friend.  "Not having this argument tonight, John.  You two make sure Regina gets home alright.  I will be fine."

 

"No, no.  I am fine.  I actually have work to finish up and Trina is still here."  The smile she gave never reached her eyes.  "I promise you I will get home safely."

 

"What work could you possibly do?"

 

"I doubt they will cancel my budget meeting tomorrow with the council.  As I said, my brother-in-law wishes he were mayor. This will just be an excuse to push me out."

 

"So might continuing to work," Robin argued.

 

"John, go make sure Nottingham logs everything fairly.  He likes you better than me.  I'll get Rob home and then come back to make sure you don't need anything, Mayor Mills."

 

"I said-"

 

"Don't care. You wouldn't let me drive home if the roles were reversed. Not about to do it to you."

 

Robin knew once the steady hand landed on his shoulder, there was no way out.  Lance had a sense of honor and duty that had made them friends. Lance would not let him back out of it now.  Instead he let himself be propelled towards the entryway to the office.  Stopping before they crossed the threshold, Robin looked back at Regina, "You'll let me know if something happens?"

 

"Of course," Regina answered stiffly.

 

He didn't want to leave her but what could he do?  They could sit in their grief and helplessness together or she could stay and get her work done.  Which she apparently intended to do.  He couldn't pretend to understand. With one last glance at the statue of a woman, Robin left the office. 

 

The ride home in the passenger seat of his own truck was remarkably silent. The grinding sound of the transmission that needed to be fixed and the whirring of the engine filled the cab of the truck as they hurtled on towards home.  When they pulled into the gravel drive, Robin glanced up at the house.  

 

The tiny cape house looked so sad and small to him.  When he had bought it with Marian what seemed like years ago, he had been so full of hope.  The house was a foundation on which to build their lives. Marian had always said how with the two dormered windows, the house looked like it had a face.  She had often seen a smile but Robin couldn't pull it out today.  All that stood was a frown.  The shingled sides had needed replacing for years now, giving it a shabby appearance, patched appearance where the few necessary new patches sat.

 

"You know he's coming home, Rob," Lance promised, snapping off the ignition and removing the keys.  

 

Robin looked at his friend's face that nearly blended into the shadows that fell into the truck. "I knew Marian was going to survive, too.  See what that got me."

 

The bleak nature of the situation collapsed on him and Robin had to fight off the despair from taking him.  Roland would come home and if the sheriff's department couldn't find him, Robin would.  If he had to tear Maine apart to do it, he would bring his boy home.   

 

Robin curved his fingers into the cool door handle and pulled, springing the door open.  Snapping the buckle undone, he glanced at Lance's forlorn face. "Thanks for the ride.  I'll let you know if I need anything."

 

Lance gave a half smile, and let himself out of the truck.  After Robin had slid to the gravel and both had slammed their doors shu, Lance came around and enveloped him in a hug Robin hadn't been expecting. "We'll be checking in," Lance promised, as Robin worked to keep his body stiff.  Letting go would only mean a disaster and he was not prepared to lose it in the driveway of his house.

 

Patting Lance on the shoulder, Robin said, "Wouldn't expect any different."  Even he could hear the tightness in his own voice.  

 

Lance released him and rocked back on his heels, stuffing his hands in his pockets.  "I'll just see you in then I'll head back in."

 

Feeling ridiculously like a girl being watched on her way into the house after a date, Robin walked up the drive and to the short flight of stairs that led into the home. Robin made sure the key slid into the lock and opened the door before turning and offering Lance a wave.  Lance waved back and Robin sealed himself inside the tomb-silent home.  

 

Two steps in his foot caught on something in the middle of the entryway and Robin cursed, catching himself on the wall of spring jackets that hung on the wall.  A worn sneaker looked back at him, tongue hanging out. "Damn it, Roland, how many-"

 

The shoe continued to stare at him as the words dried up in his throat. They lodged themselves between his chest and his mouth and no amount of swallowing could dissolve the lump.  Robin slid to the tiled floor, unable to keep his eyes off of the offending shoe, it's sole holding on by a string, just like his own.

 

The sob ripped from his chest with a violent gasp and the flood of tears came as he picked up the shoe. Robin's head came to rest against the slippery fabric of the rain slicker Roland often refused to wear as he cradled the shoe much as he had his son as a baby.  The sobs wracked his whole body, which no longer felt like his own.  Tears cascaded down his face and Robin held to the scuffed shoe as if it were a life raft that could rescue him from the storm that sought to drag him under the waves.    



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is extremely late. Thankfully, my good friend, queen_of_the_merry_men got me unstuck. I hope you still enjoy.

The phone was the best thing Henry had seen since they were flipping through snacks. He wished the bags of treats hadn’t been littered at their feet like weeds as he had been pressed against the soft body of the man who had pressed a gun into his back before dragging him backwards. Then there would have been at least something to eat. A phone, however was a magical thing that might be better than the ability to go invisible. 

Henry closed his gaping mouth and searched for words. "Do you have a signal?"

Roland's eyes grew round as the thought settled in his brain. No signal, no way home. Henry waited as his friend illuminated the room with the screen. The smile drifted off of Roland's face while it remained blanched by the light of the phone. "No. It just says E. And the battery is super low." 

Henry could see the glimmer of something wet gathering in Roland's eyes as he continued to stare down at the screen. The other boy's voice came out rough and choked as he said, "Shit."

A lack of a signal could not be the end of this little miracle that had remained in Roland’s pocket. That phone was the key to getting out of this mess. "Why don't you try moving around?” Henry suggested, hoping that he would not be wrong this time. “Just because we don't get a signal on this side of the cabin doesn't mean there's not a signal somewhere. Maine is a patchwork of crap signals, you know that."

Roland looked at him with disbelieving eyes. All of the hope that had been in them was extinguished. "We're in the middle of the fucking woods," Henry’s friend spat.

"Yeah, but they have all those pine tree towers out in the woods now."

Nostrils flared as Roland took a deep breath and shook his shaggy locks out of his face. Henry watched as Roland repeated the motion two more times, a veil of calm falling over his face. "Ok,” he said finally, exhaling heavily as he did so. “I am going to find a place in here where I can call my dad. You keep watch and let me know if he's coming back in."

"What do you want our signal to be?"

"Signal?" Roland asked, turning back.

"Roland,” Henry huffed, wishing his friend were a little less dense sometimes. “I can't just yell, 'He's coming,' because he'll know we were up to something."

Roland frowned, his brows furrowing as he thought. "Can you start having like a coughing fit?"

"What?"

"Just cough really loudly,” Roland answered, waving a hand in Henry’s direction while he stared at his phone, frowning. “We'll pretend it's some allergy or something."

"You don't want a code word?"

Henry kind of really wanted a code word. A code word would let him pretend this was a secret mission that he was on rather than something that was happening to him. If this was an operation, like Operation Freedom they might call it, then there would be so much more Henry felt he could do.

Roland rolled his eyes as his head tilted to the side. "Dude, I will forget all the code words, you know that."

“Coughing it is,” Henry agreed. 

Roland crept off into where the shadows stretched their long bodies over the wall. Henry hugged his knees to his chest and tried to see anything in the ever growing darkness. There was the occasional flutter of movement and he could make out the round body of the man who had grabbed him earlier. Other than that he couldn’t figure out what was going on. 

Every once and awhile, he could hear Roland mutter “Shit...shit...fuck...come on!” under his breath. The sounds of feet scuffling and shifting furniture helped Henry keep from listening to his own breathing and the pounding of his own heart. This morning, had someone asked him, Henry would have explained that he was most certainly nearly a grown up. Right now, Henry just wanted to see his mother and have her wrap her arms around him. If he could crawl into her lap in the way he used to when he was small and have her sing him to sleep, Henry would have given the world for it.

Henry tried to choke back tears that wanted to fall again. His mother was the best mom a kid could ever ask for. Now he was trapped here and she was nowhere to be found. What would she be doing right now? Had she realized he was missing? Robin would have gone to tell his mother by now. 

Fear rarely worked its way into her eyes, but he could picture it sitting there, like it did when Grandmother came over. This would have to be worse, though, wouldn’t it? Grandmother was only constantly disappointed.

A flash ripped through the darkness with a rumble and for a moment, Henry thought it was an explosion. When the light remained and everything was settled, it was clear that they were the headlights of a car of some sort. "Hurry up," Henry hissed at Roland.”Someone is leaving.”

“Leaving’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

Henry sighed as his nerves crawled like spiders through his skin. Henry twisted himself on the couch to look at Roland who was still wandering through the house. “I don’t know. But if it’s whoever the guy was talking to, he’s probably coming in. You should put that away.”

Roland didn’t turn to look at him, but kept his eyes on the phone. “No, I’m close. There’s a bar but it still says E. Maybe I should go in the bathroom.”

“Roland.”

A sound had Henry’s attention and he turned to see the door opening. 

“YES!” Roland exclaimed, his voice raising an octave, “A few more minutes.”

Henry exploded into a fit of coughs. Forcing the air out in rough, full blasts grated his throat but Henry was hoping Roland understood that there was no more time. Hopefully the fake coughing fit would throw their kidnapper off for a little bit and give Roland time to get a message to his father. If only it would save them he would remove all of the layers of his throat coughing. It was all he had to give. 

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

Meaty hands grabbed his shirt, but Henry kept right on coughing. His breath sounded hoarse and wheezy, which was good. Had to be if this guy would focus on him long enough for Roland to find a signal and get a message out. The hands started shaking Henry and he closed his eyes to focus on coughing rather than the bobbing of the man’s red knit hat. “You know you can’t kick it yet. Your mom is still going to want to have proof of life!”

Henry choked a little on spit and rather than continuing to cough sputtered. He sucked in a stuttering breath and felt the hands fall away as he tumbled back on the couch. Henry tried to get a solid breath to get the henchman, and really that's all Henry could see him as, to focus back on him. Nothing solid would come. 

“Where the hell is the other one?”

Henry shrugged and continued to suck wind into his lungs that were struggling after their forced trauma. “I think...he went to pee.”

Hamhands, as Henry would now think of him, wobbled his way over to the bathroom and wrenched the door open. Henry tried to see around him and into the bathroom to get a feel for what Roland was doing. “The fuck are you doing?”

“A guy can’t have some privacy here?” Roland squawked. Henry closed his eyes and sent a silent prayer that Roland could talk his way out of it. 

“What did you stick in your pocket?”

“A tissue,” Roland said hastily before adding, “Some tissues, for Henry, ‘cause you know, his allergies are killer and really you wouldn’t want anything to happen to him. He’s the valuable one.” 

The man glared at Roland. “Why don’t you just take the whole fucking box?” He reached a chubby arm past Roland and snatched the box off the back of the toilet. The round man turned away from the door, muttering, “Dumbass.” 

Henry sighed and let a bit of the anxiety that had been holed up inside him go. He didn’t know if Roland had gotten anything out with the phone but at least he hadn’t been caught. His throat felt like warm sandpaper and he wanted a glass of water more than anything at this point. Henry wasn’t sure if pushing his luck was worth it at this point.

Roland gave a shrug Henry’s way as their captor lumbered his way towards the couch. “Didn’t know how you felt about moving things in here. I’ve never been kidnapped before.”

Hamhands shot a look to Roland and grunted. “Just stay here where I can see you both.”

Roland came out of the bathroom, hands in his pockets. Flopping back into the chair he had occupied before, Henry almost thought he looked as relaxed as he would at home. It was an act. Henry knew it was. Still, his friend was “How about you get Henry some water. He’s clearly not feeling well. You wouldn’t want to be responsible for damaging the goods, would you?”

Hamhands rolled his eyes but wandered off to the kitchen. Henry closed his eyes and sent up a small prayer that maybe, just maybe, Roland got a message out and that his father would actually receive it. They could use all the help they could get at this point. 

~*~

Regina cast her eyes around her now empty office and wondered if she had made a mistake, asking to be left alone. Now that the officers and Robin had gone home, the crisp, white lines of her office left her feeling cold. The sharp black and red accents only increased her sense of fear. The office exuded power most of the time. Decorating it had been a source of pride for Regina and now she wanted to break everything inside the room. If only breaking things would bring her boy home. 

Clicking through the files on the screen, Regina opened the ransom note once more. Whoever had taken her son wanted to take her job and run the town while holding her at their mercy. Could she throw over the entire budget for the wishes of a madman? Or madwoman?

Closing her eyes, Regina clicked back to the budget. She would have to trust that the police would figure this out. Regina ceding power to the kidnappers would be the first thing that would put her out of office and out of a job. Would Walsh be so desperate for her job that he would kidnap Henry and a friend to become mayor? Walsh had never been her favorite person nor she his, but this was not something you could casually accuse anyone of. Taking a child was worse than anything she would have thought anyone she knew capable, and Regina could name so many terrible people: Mother, Mr. Gold, Walsh, and even Zelena when she wanted to be. Regina had her own darkness. Mother tainted everything with it.

Rather than reflect on who might have done it, Regina opened her browser and quickly typed kidnapping statistics into the box and hit send before she could think better of it. She should have thought better. Most children under the age of twelve were kidnapped by family members in order to gain custody. Most children over the age of twelve were kidnapped for sexual reasons. The longer they were gone the less likely the children were to come home alive. 

Her heart spasmed at the thought of losing her son. Henry had been the only thing that got her through those dark days after losing Daniel. Days revolved solely on Henry back then. Her whole life, even her career in politics, had to do with her son and making the town safe and happy for him to grow up in. Giving her son a legacy that he could be proud of, a mother that he could be proud of rather than one he reviled. Proving to Mother that she could be a single mother, a good mother and a powerful woman all at the same time. 

Henry was what made the sun shine and life worth living. Without him...without him Regina would just as soon rip her heart from her chest rather than live without him. 

Exing out of the window, she stared at the budget. The demands would rip her plans to shreds. The demands might just bring her son home.

Another email popped up at the base of her screen with the subject all in block letters reading URGENT.

Dread flooded her veins as she went to click on the mail.

WE KNOW YOU HAVE BEEN TALKING WITH THE POLICE. WE HAD THOUGHT YOU SMARTER THAN THAT REGINA. IF YOU WANT TO SEE YOUR SON AGAIN, YOU WILL STOP COOPERATING WITH THE POLICE AND DO WHAT WE ASK YOU TO. WE ARE WAITING, REGINA.

The stone in her throat made it hard to breathe. She tried to swallow it and gain her composure again but Regina was just left with a dry mouth and rattling breath. Calling in the sheriff had been a logical step. The last note hadn’t said anything about not calling the sheriff. They were trying to catch her, purposely, in a trap they were setting. Nottingham wouldn’t stop looking and she didn’t want him to stop, but the kidnappers let her know something important; they were watching her.

If nothing else they had eyes on her office and were making sure she was making the moves that they wanted. They would know anything that happened here. They might have eyes on her home. She could not meet with the police in secret right now, not while they were watching and thinking she was uncooperative. Robin might not even be a person to contact right now. If she picked up her phone the second after she received the anonymous message, it could put Henry into even more danger. Regina was not about to risk her son by jumping too quickly. This all needed to be orchestrated carefully. 

Regina pushed herself away from her desk and stood on shaky legs. Control was the one thing she had always prided herself on and now...now she wasn’t sure if anything was even in her control anymore. Her son was missing and in the hands of people that had nothing but the worst of intentions. She couldn't even say that he was remotely safe. Regina had always kept Henry safe, for all of those years. He was her baby and the only thing she would do anything for. 

Trying to blink back the tears in her eyes, she headed for the closet and snatched out her jacket and purse. Regina shoved her arms through her sleeves, pushing her hands out and her thoughts to the back of her mind. If she just focused on the menial steps of getting herself home she just might make it. 

“I’m going home.”

Trina popped out from behind her desk, green skirt fluttering as she put her body between Regina and the door. “You want me to drive you, boss? I really don’t mind at all. I can walk back home from your place, get my car tomorrow.”

She was so damn eager to help. It was annoying, but Regina had never had a better assistant. Regina waved a dismissive hand. Clucking in the way “Trina, it’s cold and that would be silly. I am fine.”

The blonde tilted her head and her bun with all of its decorations flopped to the side as she frowned. “I really have to disagree, ‘Gina.”

Regina straightened her spine and tried to look as capable as ever. “Even when I am not fine I can take care of myself. I have for this long, have I not?”

“That doesn’t mean you have to do it alone.”

Trina’s smile was brittle but still bright. It was the hope in her voice, the hope that Regina would let her in, let her help. “You’ve been here all day. What else can anyone do? I am going to go home and put myself into bed. That is all.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I am. Can you lock up?” Perhaps throwing the flighty girl a job would give her something to focus on rather than try and drive Regina home. She needed to leave her sterile office and the memory of having her whole life shaken when Robin had come in. There was a part of her, that knew better of course, but hoped that she would find Henry to be safely in the house and this whole day to have been a dream. 

"Of course. I can run the office tomorrow, if you’d like.”

Regina shook her head. She focused on slipping on the gloves she had worn in the morning. “That won’t be necessary, Trina,” she answered, rubbing the soft leather of her driving gloves. “I will be here, per usual. They expect me to be.”

“I will have your coffee waiting.”

It was a kindness, Regina knew. It had taken her airhead of a secretary six months to get her simple coffee order completely right. Particularly considering Trina had a habit of wanting to infuse fun and excitement into Regina's life where Regina wanted order and structure. Had Robin entered her office under different circumstances, Regina was sure that their conversations would be full of Trina filling her head with ideas about his attractiveness and Regina's need to date. 

Thankfully, she would not have to deal with it.

~*~

When the tears finally ran dry, Robin found himself on the middle of his mudroom floor. There were worse places to lay on the floor. Robin had lain in those once upon a time. He took in a shaky breath and placed the shoe he had clutched desperately aside, putting the pair safely under the bench where they belonged. Roland would be back to put his shoes on, Robin was sure of it (aside from the small quiver in his belly at the thought that his boy might not be). Alternatives were not an option.

Nottingham was not going to be helpful. He had hated Robin ever since Marian had agreed to a date with him while she had never agreed to date Nottingham. The fury in his face as Robin and Marian had left the dispatch office and headed out into that brisk October night, Robin had never forgotten. Nottingham had then made it his mission to destroy Robin. Little things, like trying to take the dates off of Robin’s logs or misreporting information, or trying to beat Robin to any crime scene to make himself look better. 

No, Nottingham would see to it that Robin got no information. Even if Roland was Marian’s child, she was long since dead. That old connection would not earn him any points, but only continue to be an age old bitterness. Worse, Nottingham would likely feel that if he were to find Henry on his own, it would give him a leg up with Marian’s ghost, wherever she might be. Nottingham on a mission might be worse than the casually inept man Robin often knew him to be. 

Silence continued to haunt him in a house that had so rarely held the lack of sound. The echoes of the noise that should have been nearly deafened Robin as he made his way into the kitchen. 

Pulling out his phone, Robin realized he had some calls to make, if he was going to get his child back. The place to start would be local. The big guns could wait a day or two. If someone in town knew anything, Roland could be found much faster than by any outsiders. He needed at least twenty four hours before he called in a trained professional. 

The first contact came up quickly. The word Whiskey was all the contact had ever gone by on his phone and was all anyone who hacked his phone would get. He pressed the number and the ringing bloomed in his ear. The reverberating continued longer than Robin would have liked, there was no answer. The answering machine was just a computer spitting out the phone number, but luckily the mailbox wasn’t full. 

“Meet me in our old place. I need a favor.”

Storming to the basement, he grabbed a torch and headed for the safe he rarely entered. Flipping past the combination that was, foolishly, the date of his first date with Marian, Robin waited until he heard the right creak, and levered the door open. His hand slid past the passports and the box of wedding rings he stored there because he couldn’t bear to part with them. Robin’s hand closed around what he was looking for.

He pulled out the .9mm handgun and felt the heft of it in his hand. Robin hadn’t touched the thing since he had left the force. The service revolver he had needed to return but he had kept one of his own. Marian had never liked having guns in the house once they had a child. The rifle he had kept for hunting purposes, family traditions and all that drivel, but the revolver stayed in the safe, waiting for the day he would actually need it.

He wished he had gone against Marian's wishes and had taught Roland more than the basics of firearm safety by now. It might give him more of a chance. Or get him killed if he reached for it. 

Robin shoved the clip into the gun and stuck it in his holster. If nothing else he was going to do something to find his son. 

~*~

Pulling into the driveway, Regina looked up at the house she shared with her son. It was not the home she had shared with Daniel, but the one she bought later, after the wrongful death settlement and her father’s will left her more. The house was one befitting of a mayor, even if Henry sometimes found it excessive. It would be even more excessive now that he was not home to fill it. 

Knowing it would be best to get it over with, Regina stepped out of her car, her footsteps clicking on the pavement and later on the flagstones. The wind tugged at her coat as she walked, but the chill didn’t touch her. Coldness had seeped into her bones before she had even left her office. Closing her eyes, she breathed a moment to give her strength to open the door. 

She reached out to place her key in the lock. Before she could insert the thin grooved metal into the slot, the door swung wide and she found herself enveloped. Her hands remained wide as her step-sister curled into her on one side and her oldest friend was on her other side. In the background, Archie just stood awkwardly, looking like someone had shot his dog. 

It was Mary-Margaret who pulled back first, staring up at her with giant eyes. “God, Regina, where have you been? Have you been with the police all this time? What did they say? Are there any leads?”

Regina turned her head away from the endless prattle, not wanting to look at Archie. His eyes saw everything and she worried that he could look right inside and pull out everything she had shoved down. Instead, she found herself watching the strands of Katherine’s hair slip in and out of contact with each other. Katherine pulled back and stared at her with eyes looking like clouds on the cusp of unleashing a torrent of rain. 

Struggling to keep her composure, Regina pushed both their hands away and choked out the word, “No.” 

Even with the three people that Regina would most consider family in her home, the echo of her shoes on tile as she started inside made the entire house that much emptier. There was no responding sneaker squeak as Henry careened around the corner of the second floor and flew down the stairs. The sun had set an hour ago. He should have been frowning at her, telling her she was working too hard and with a frozen pizza in the oven. Regina would feel guilty for not being a better mother, for not being the one taking care of him. Henry would be here.

“You can all go home,” she dismissed them much as she would a meeting with the board. 

“Regina,” Mary Margaret exclaimed. “You can’t be serious to think that we would just leave you here alone. You need people right now.”

The words, her step-sister’s phrasing, brought up Trina’s words earlier which were nearly identical. Turning slowly on her heel, Regina eyed them all carefully. “I did not think word of this had gotten out. How did you all know to be here? Was it on the news?”

Guilty looks shot between them like laser blasts in Henry’s comic books. She was all too familiar with this version of figuring out a lie. Henry and Roland had been doing it for years. Her favorite was the time that they had broken the vase her mother had given her for Christmas. She had not particularly cared that the vase was broken, though her stomach had clenched as Regina thought of the next time Cora visited and couldn’t find that very expensive piece she had generously given. Watching the boys try and invent a story that included an open window and a bluebird had been endlessly amusing however. Keeping her serious face had been hard.

Watching her friends eye each other suspiciously, however, gave her no such pleasure. “That damn flighty fairy of an assistant.”

Mary-Margaret’s eyes were wide and the damn tears were falling down her face. “What was she supposed to do, Regina? Just let you come home all by yourself to an empty house?”

“Yes,” Regina insisted, thinking of curling up in her son’s bed and just smelling the vestiges of his fading child smell. “It was what I wanted.”

“Oh, Regina,” Mary Margaret sighed, as if she had somehow managed to break her sister’s heart further. 

The pressure her sister’s feelings lodged in her chest. Why did she always have to hold not only her own feelings but the feelings of everyone else? Bitter, old feelings rose in her throat as she bit out, “You’re not really here for me. You’re here for you.”

“Regina, let’s step back and look at the situation-”

She growled at Artie. “I think you ought to respect my wishes.”

Frustratingly, the psychologist didn’t even flinch. Bastard. Instead, his eyes continued to overflow with compassion and she wants to punch him in the face. “I do but I am not going to let you act against your own best interests.”

“What is in my best interest is having my son home. Unless you can do that, I suggest you leave.”

Regina wished for just a moment she had fire in her hands, that would appropriately show the rage that was building inside her. Having people in her house only made her feel more when all she wanted was to feel less. She wanted to leave her feelings and just be the empty shell she should be. 

“Regina, we have done this before and we will do it again. We did this over Daniel and over James. You have tried shutting me out and I have tried shutting you out. When the worst happens, you have to depend on the people who love you.”

“Henry depends on me. Daniel depended on me to watch our son and now- now-”

Regina choked on the knot forming in her throat. The flood had been hiding behind thick levies and now she felt them crumbling. Katherine’s arms banded about her. Sobs hitched, rocking her whole body. She crumpled against Katherine’s body feeling helpless as the tide swept over her body. Her baby was missing. All she wanted was him back. 

~*~

The woods were a carpet of pine needles and leaves that no one had ever cleaned. They crunched under his feet as he headed to the familiar spot in the woods. Even if it had been years, his feet still knew the way. He would rather not have to be here, creeping through the woods. Still, if things were going sour in the area, Will Scarlett would have an idea of what was going on. The thief had his ear to the ground more often than not.

Right now, the man in question was leaning against a tree. He had a familiar flask in one hand and “Oi, Mate,” Will’s face tipped into a grin. “Haven’t heard from you in awhile. Thought you gave up the nasty habit of policing the free world.”

Ignoring the barb at his former job, Robin stared at the thief, schooling his face into a facsimile of a stone. Roland needed him to be strong today. Roland needed his father to be the hero he used to believe in. “I need some information.”

Hands instantly raised and a familiar chuckle passed Will’s lips. Any other day, it might have amused Robin. “I haven’t been - “

Robin waved a hand in front of his chest. “Let’s not lie, Will. I’m not really worried about what you have and haven’t been up to. I need some information about a kidnapping.”

“A kidnapping?” 

Just the facts, Robin, he reminded himself. If he kept it to the facts it would be more like a case and less like his life. He made his voice clipped and careful. “Yes. A kidnapping. Two boys, aged twelve.” Short. Sweet. Just the facts.

The wind whistled through, creaking the boughs overhead and creating the only noise that came through the quiet woods. He could almost see the gears in Will’s head turning as he thought about the information he had just been presented with. Robin pulled his leather jacket tighter around his body, shoving his hands in the pockets. He wondered, while the silence stretched on, if this had been a mistake. There were other avenues to take. 

“Oi, ain’t your son--” Robin’s jaw twitched. He clenched it tight and tried to keep the bile from rising higher in his throat. All humor dropped from Will’s face and he was left open. “Oh. Shit, mate.”

This was not what he had been hoping for. His hope that Will would know something and he would be able to bring the boys home tonight, came crashing down around him. He blew out the fantasy with a long breath. When Robin felt able to speak, he said, “I take it you haven’t heard anything.”

“No. Nothing from the usual crowd. Nottingham’s a right bastard, putting everyone away even for the most minor things. Some are suggesting he’s faking evidence. No one wants to take a chance.”

“Keep your ears to the ground. See if you can sniff them out. If they’re strangers, they’re more likely to show up as strange.”

Will nodded, but even Robin could see that he seemed shaken by the news. The other man’s eyes kept shifting over the leaves as if he could make sense out of them. “It’s a small world up here,” the thief commented absently. “The usuals are the usuals. Don’t know who’d make the mistake of taking the son of a former cop.”

Robin supposed there were new people who didn’t know that he used to be a police officer. Still, that would be the only reason to target his child that he could think of. Not that they were targeting him. If he was going to have Will keep his ears out, he might as well give him the whole story. “And the mayor’s son. They took Henry. We think he is who they’re targeting. Only Regina has gotten ransom notes.”

Will nodded. “Look, Robin, you were always fair, s’far as cops go. I’ll put it out that one of my mate’s kids got snatched. When I get anything, I’ll tell you.”

It would have to be enough, Robin decided. “Thanks. You can get in touch the old way.”

Will nodded again and slid back into the shadows, the leaves barely crunching under his feet. Robin turned and made the long walk back to his car. There would be more calls to make. He would have to call the girls. They’d be mad enough that they hadn’t been his first call. Not to mention with the business they ran, Emma and Mulan could pretty much find anyone they wanted to. Will was only helpful because he was local. 

Swinging himself back into his truck, Robin pulled his phone out of his back pocket. He held his finger over the start button to open it and found a little 1 sitting above his message button. Robin quickly clicked on it and found his lungs emptying of air as Roland’s name came up over the top of the phone. 

Dad. We’re OK. In a cabin - one room. Don’t know

And that was the end of the message. Robin’s breath came back in gasps. His son was alive, by some miracle had his phone and had gotten him a message. Robin wanted to yell at the phone, ask it for more information and the end of that sentence. 

He was half-way through a response before he stopped himself. There was no way to know if Roland’s phone had been taken after he had sent the message or if his phone was on silent. Even if it was, a phone vibration could still signal contact. If the kidnappers didn’t know that Roland had his phone, Robin could put his son in danger by messaging him at all. His finger held the backspace button as he watched his words to his son disappear. For a moment he just sat and stared at the message his son had sent him. It would have to be enough for now.

Instead, Robin called another familiar number. The only other person that could really understand what he was going through. The endless ringing reminded him of the calls he’d made just a few hours ago trying to reach his son. Finally it beeped, and he was met with Regina’s curt voice instructing him to leave a message. 

“Regina, it’s Robin.” He took a deep breath and let it out. “Meet me at the beach when you get a chance. We need to talk.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new day has dawned, but Henry and Roland have still been missing for less than 24 hours. For their parents, however, it feels like a lifetime. Robin and Regina plan to find their children, with or without the help of the police. Roland has decided that being kidnapped is super boring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to queen-of-the-merry-men for her beta skills. I would not get this work together without her.

Darkness surrounded her and her mouth felt as if she’d tried to drink sawdust. Regina pushed her hands against the bedspread and groaned, stretching . She wasn’t in her own room and she was sleeping on top of the covers. It wasn’t like her. What had happened to her last night?

She blinked, trying to orient herself in the dark room. It was the robot on the desk, next to the computer that brought everything crashing back. She was in Henry’s room. Henry wasn’t here. 

He was…

He was…

Regina couldn’t think about where he was. She didn’t even know. 

Opening her eyes, Regina forced herself to bring herself back to reality. On Henry’s bedside table stood a glass of water, with a sticky note reading “Drink Me” in Mary Margaret’s loopy handwriting. Sometimes, it was nice to have a family member who loved you no matter what. Katheryn’s cookies sat next to the water. A matching “Eat Me” sign was stuck to the edge of the plate. Regina grabbed the water and took a heavy gulp, hoping to ease the dryness of her throat. 

Doing so, however, left the image of Daniel’s smiling face looking back at her. Regina stilled, the glass half way from her mouth. When she returned the water to the table, she reached behind and picked up the oak frame with the pale, happy face looking back at her. 

“Oh, Daniel, I wish you were here.”

Daniel had always had a calm that Regina had admired. Perhaps that was why she had fallen in love with him so easily. Daniel was rarely ruffled. Even in the face of Cora’s disapproval, he was unflappable, while Regina was often enraged. She was certain that he would’ve been able to handle this situation better than she was. 

She needed him. While she wasn’t sure how exactly he would respond to the news that their son was missing. She tried to picture what it would mean to tell him this painful truth. Daniel had loved Henry, even if he had never met his son. The nights where he would rub lotion on her growing belly and talk to their baby, of all the things he hoped for their future, all that they would never do with each other. He would have been devastated but he would have been with her the entire time.

If Daniel were here, he would have put a hand on her back and rubbed it, the same way he would with an upset horse. He might have been upset, even cried with her, but he would have emanated the calm she needed. Closing her eyes, Regina tried to call up his smell and the sound of his voice, but after twelve years, she couldn't quite pull them to mind. He was a ghost hovering on the fringes of her memory.

Henry had a lot of Daniel’s characteristics. Hopefully, Henry would be calm as he often was when something disrupted their lives. Her son liked to take care of her, just as his father had. Still, he was just a boy, her boy. 

She was going to bring him home. This house would be filled with the sound of boys shouting and playing again. There would be snow days next year with hot chocolate and snowball fights. Regina would face down the specter of a teenaged boy and the terrifying choices that would open to her son as he pulled away from her. She would not be her mother, determined to control him. She made the silent promise to Daniel’s picture and hoped that if he was somewhere better, he would help her bring their son home. 

Regina stared down at Daniel’s beloved face. He had been gone for twelve years and she wondered if the life that she was giving Henry was the one he also would have wanted for their son. If Daniel were alive, who knew if she would’ve even become mayor. Henry would have been home if she wasn't. Of that Regina was sure. 

“They took him because of me, Daniel,” She admitted aloud to his picture.

Tears streamed down her face like a waterfall. Mayor had never been her goal. It had just been school committee when Henry was four and about to enter the schools, because her son deserved the best. Somehow that had lead to the council and eventually mayor.

Although, Cora had been proud. She had wanted to help. Regina had received the undivided attention of her mother. The approval in her mother’s eyes for something Regina chose to do and not something her mother had pushed her on. Maybe she had gone too far. Maybe she had wanted too much. But she was good at it.

If she weren’t good at it, no one would have thought to re-elect her. If she weren’t good at it, Henry wouldn’t be gone. 

“I’m sorry,” she told Daniel, finally, unable to think of anything else to say. He couldn't answer her, though. Not that it would help Henry. What Regina needed to focus on was trying to bring her son home while keeping her town intact, despite the forces working against her. 

Returning Daniel to his vigil, Regina pushed herself off of Henry’s bed. She smoothed the plaid duvet out under her hands and watched the wrinkles disappear. There was a meeting this afternoon she had to be prepared for. People still depended on her, even if her world was crashing down. 

Mother would be proud, she thought to herself bitterly as she headed into the hall. Shower would be first, then checking her phone and email. Maybe something had come to light overnight. If she were lucky, Henry would be home in time for dinner tonight and it would be like he had only been sleeping over at Robin’s.

The laugh in her head sounded too much like Mother’s. Regina had never been that lucky.

~*~

The wind blew in briskly off the land, making Regina’s hair dance about her face. Robin slid out of the cab of his truck, gravel crunching under his feet and began making his way across the rocky beach to the woman who stood still as a pillar in the face of the harsh wind, a black pea coat wrapped tightly around her while her jewel-toned gloves poked out from behind her elbows. 

Once he was close enough to ensure that his voice wouldn’t get stolen with the wind, he placed one hand on her shoulder and said, “Regina.”

She jumped and turned, brown eyes full of surprise while her hair continued to whip into his face. “How long have you been out here?”

Robin shrugged, not wanting to tell her that he’d been out here all night, not really sleeping. Instead, he stuffed his hands into his pocket and rocked back on his heels. “Wasn’t sure when you were going to get my message.”

Her eyes darted about them furtively. Thin lines folded away from her eyes at the corners and her brow creased together. “I’m being watched,” she said finally, her voice nearly blending into the wind around them. 

“I’m not surprised. It’s why I picked the beach. The wind will make it nearly impossible for anyone further up the shore to hear us.” Robin put his hands on either of Regina’s arms, “We’re just two people, missing their kids, talking on the beach.”

Robin needed her to believe it. They couldn’t look too suspicious while they were out here. He hoped she could understand that not only was he comforting her but he wanted it to look like that was all he was doing. Whispering about how they were going to find their children by thwarting the kidnappers was not something that would help them in the long run if they were caught. 

“They don’t want me to call the police,” Regina told him, although he swore he could hear the silent censure of Nottingham’s ability as a sheriff. “Still, I don’t think I can just sit by and do nothing. Or just give into their demands. It’s not who I am.“

Robin nodded, agreeing. “I think we need to take care of this on our own.”

She huffed, clearly frustrated with him. That was not exactly accurate, or fair, Robin realized. Regina was frustrated with the whole thing. “How do you propose we do that? We don’t have much information to go on and we’re being watched.”

“We know a few things, whoever took them, isn’t one of the usual local criminals, even if someone in town paid for the kidnapping. The boys are alive and they’re in the woods.”

“How do you know that?”

“I have friends from my time on the force. And I got this last night.”

Handing over his phone wasn’t easy. The message from Roland was the thing keeping him moving forward despite everything else. Robin understood that Regina would need to read it for the same reason. Her eyes yesterday when Henry called still haunted him. 

This time, hope filled her eyes, warming them and adding a light behind them. Regina looked at him with wonder and he couldn't help but think about what else might put that light in her eyes. “They have a phone. Oh, Robin, I swear-” Robin noticed her fingers itching over the buttons. “Have you contacted him?”

“I want to but I don’t -” Robin sighed, taking the phone back and looking at Roland’s message again. Would his son blame him for not getting back to him? Did Roland even know if his message had been read? “Their captors can’t know about the phone, or they wouldn’t have it. If I message him and the phone is discovered…” Robin could only imagine terrible things happening and it would be his fault. “I’m going to wait for Roland to try again when they’re alone.”

Regina nodded and Robin could see her shoulders creeping up towards her ears. He understood the sentiment clearly. There had to be more that they could do. 

“We need to come up with a list of suspects, Regina, of who might have taken the boys. Someone has them and they’re leagues ahead of us because they know they have them and know who we are. Without knowing that, we’ll only be playing catch-up.”

“I just...I can’t imagine who would dare to take a child. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Most crimes don’t make sense at face value. It’s hard to make sense out of something that growing up you learned was wrong. Still, there are reasons people do what they do. Let’s think about the facts and who would want to hurt either one of us.”

“Who would want to hurt me, Robin. It’s kind of you to suggest that the kidnappers could be targeting you, but I’m the one they have contacted. This person is coming for me and the town. They want me to reduce taxes on rental properties and businesses.”

“Which you said would cripple the town. Who would be interested in that?”

“Gold, my step-father, ex-step-father. He’s been looking for a tax decrease since I took office. He’s not thrilled I haven’t complied. I hate to say it, but my brother-in-law could be using Henry and this to get me out of office. He’s on the advisory board and he hates that he’s lost to me, twice.”

“So, Mr. Gold and your brother-in-law. Is that it?”

“That comes to mind.” Regina ran a hand through her hair and a bitter laugh burst from her lips. “It feels like far too many.”

There was one person whom came to Robin’s mind regarding his own lost child. “It’s something,” Robin told her. Picking your life apart like this, was painful. If he was going to ask her to do it, he should at least return the favor. “The person I can most think of wanting to take Roland is Nottingham, if it’s to punish me. Still, after all this time, you’d think he would have given it up.”

“He really doesn’t like you.”

It wasn’t a question and Robin supposed it didn’t have to be. Anyone who watched them interact could see it. “No. We were deputies together. Eric had feelings for Marian; those feelings were not reciprocated. He has held me accountable for stealing her, for gaining the praise of Sheriff Williams, for her death even.”

“Cancer took Marian,” Regina said matter-of-factly.

He heard his own laugh turn bitter. Robin didn’t want to look at her face and see what happened as he told her the whole story. “Ah, yes, but she was diagnosed while pregnant with Roland and avoided chemotherapy until he was born. I killed her, in his opinion, by getting her pregnant.”

“Robin.”

The lump was back in Robin’s throat. He tried to swallow past it, past the despair. Nottingham was crazy, but there was a part of Robin that believed the story. Marian had always said they might not have found it as quickly if she hadn’t been pregnant. It still hadn’t been quick enough to save her, in the end.

“Well, I told her that I’d rather have her than a child, which seems ridiculous now that I have Roland. Still, she wouldn’t pass up the chance. It was ovarian cancer. Marian knew that it was her only chance to have a child she gave birth to. She couldn’t bear to miss that. She fought for nearly six years, though.”

 

“Robin.”

He swallowed, pulling back the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes. He was not going to cry here on this beach over things that he couldn’t change. “Other than that, I’ve mostly kept to myself the past seven years. I run my business, pay my bills, keep tabs on my son.”

Her leather-clad hand landed on his shoulder. Robin could almost imagine the warmth of her skin floating through to his. “You’re a good father, Robin. Roland couldn’t ask for better.”

Finally, he turned and looked at her, managing a smile from somewhere he couldn’t quite name. Perhaps Robin had gotten so good at faking it, he could manage a smile just about anywhere. “You're not a bad parent, either, Regina. Lord knows, I’ve trusted you with my son more than anyone else.”

“And I you.” Her fingers tightened on his shoulder. “You know it’s not your fault that they went missing on their way to your house, don’t you? They could have easily been on their way to mine.”

“I could have looked for them earlier. I didn't leave the workshop to make sure they made it home on time.”

“Robin, I wouldn’t have been home for another hour after when you came to tell me what had happened. We would be that much further behind.”

The boys were older now. They had begun trusting them with unsupervised time. Three years ago, Robin would have taken time off to go pick up the boys. He watched as waves pummeled the beach, rolling the pebbles smooth in their wake. “Maybe,” he acknowledged, not willing to absolve himself yet. 

Taking his eyes off of it, he met Regina’s worried brown eyes. “You should go home. I’m going to check on some leads.”

“I’m going into work.” Robin opened his mouth to say something, but she raised a hand to quell him. “I have to work so I will not go crazy. Not to mention, these kidnappers seem to be interested in my job. I am not ready to cow to them yet.”

Robin nodded, sensing the determination that lay beneath the worry. He would go out of his mind if he stopped moving. “Well, you know how to reach me if anything comes up.”

“And you, me.”

Robin gave one more curt nod, before giving her a quick hug. “We’ll find them,” he promised, unsure if he was telling her or himself.

Before he could think on it too long, Robin stepped back, shoving hands in his pockets and turned towards the parking lot. Long strides carried him back to his car. 

~*~

They had shared the king bed rather than forcing one of them sleep on the couch or the floor. There’d been an argument and finally Henry had sighed and said, “Don’t be stupid, Roland. There’s no reason to be uncomfortable when the bed is big enough for both of us. We’ve shared one before.” 

They had, but it had been years ago. Well, at least four years ago, maybe more. Now there was usually sleeping bags and air mattresses and other things. Still, as the chill had set in at night, it hadn’t been bad to be sharing a bed, a pillow stuck between them because...well, because. 

Roland hadn’t really slept. He wasn’t at home and he wasn’t at Henry’s and he had never really tried sleeping anywhere else. His mind kept going to his dad and what he was doing. Would Robin Locksley be asleep with all of this madness? Probably not. He dreamt of trying to go home, of searching for his parents, but not being able to find them. The entire experience had left him restless and annoyed. A milk-less bowl of Cheerios had not helped. 

Now that he was trapped in this house, with nothing to do but stare at the walls and avoid Hamhands, Roland was slowly going crazy. “I am going to die of boredom.”

A swift kick was delivered to his thigh from Henry. His best friend was frowning at him. “Don’t say that.”

Roland sunk his head back against the couch and peered out the window where sunlight was struggling to peer at them through the trees. He had been awake since the birds had started at six this morning and he had no real clue of what time it was. “Henry, we have been here for less than a full day and I am ready to pull out my eyelashes for entertainment.”

“Don’t talk about dying,” Henry snapped. 

The fear hiding behind Henry’s eyes hit Roland hard. “We’re not going to die. You’re too valuable.”

Henry nodded. His fingers were twisting and untwisting, just like yesterday, and his eyes were focused somewhere that Roland couldn’t quite make out. “Mom and your dad are going to figure it out,” Henry said definitively. “They’ll come for us. You sent him a message.”

“Hopefully it went through.”

“It had to,” Henry said with a conviction Roland wished he felt. “And Mom’s the mayor and your dad used to be a cop. They’ll find us.”

Roland thought of the uniform that still stood pressed in his father’s closet carrying dust. He had been asking about it for as long as he could remember. His jaw clenched as he saw the look that would come into his dad’s eyes whenever he asked. “My dad was a deputy a long time ago. Mom asked him to stop before she died. I mean, he had to give up the job while she was really sick, it’s just...she didn’t want him to go back to it after. She said I shouldn’t be an orphan.”

Roland often thought it would have solved a lot of problems for them if his dad had just gone back to being a deputy rather than making his living as a carpenter. The jobs came as they came and never really offered any consistency. Roland would have liked a bit of normalcy, a little bit of trust in when they would have money and when they wouldn’t. He couldn’t always ask Henry to front him, even if he did live in a mansion.

His dad would be counting on him though. They were a team. Dad always said that, particularly when things were hard. “I could try it again.”

“I thought you were low.”

“I am.” Roland weighed the idea of using the phone again in his brain. “I put the phone on airplane mode just to keep the battery life and I didn’t want my dad texting us with Hamhands around.”

“Good idea. Do you think we should try again?”

Roland thought carefully about what Henry had just asked, and he rolled the other idea he had been having around his head. There was a better answer. Roland knew there was. He decided to try it out on Henry to see if his friend would go along with it.

Glancing again at his friend, Roland tried, “I think we should try to escape.”

“What?”

“Henry,” Roland sighed, frustrated. The cabin got smaller and smaller every minute he was here and he just wanted to go home. If they left, at least they would be doing rather than sitting. “We can't wait forever.”

Henry shook his head, vehemently, making Roland’s heart sink. “Our parents are going to find us. We need to stay safe.” 

Roland could see the speech welling up in Henry’s eyes. Closing his eyes, resting his head back on the couch, Roland began to imagine Henry’s expressions and hand movements. A speech from Henry was nearly like having one from Henry’s mom. “We have no idea where we are. Even if we didn’t get caught, which is highly likely, it still drops to below freezing at night. We also don’t have coats or sleeping bags. If we get lost in these woods, we could easily end up dead.”

“It would be something.”

“We can’t get ourselves lost or killed. It’s like getting lost at the mall. We just have to stay put. Can we charge your phone while he’s gone?”

Roland frowned at Henry. Without Henry’s approval the plan wouldn’t work. He was going to have to wait his friend out. Eventually, Henry would cave. He tended to see what Roland wanted in the first place. “Charger’s in my backpack. Who knows what they did with it.”

“Maybe we can go with your plan of trying to contact your dad again. This time he might get back to you.”

Roland sighed, “Maybe.”

Henry continued to stare at him with that defiant stubborn streak that Roland loved best when it wasn't turned on him. “Alright, I’m going to head to the bathroom. Texting is best from there.”

Tension leached out of Henry, Roland could see it, as he was gifted with a smile. “Ok. I’ll cough if he comes back.”

“Thanks.” Roland headed off to the bathroom, flipping airplane mode off his phone as he went. While he was in the bathroom, he could always test the bathroom window. There was no rule that said he couldn’t. Best thing to do is to have a solid exit strategy if they needed to leave. No one could argue with that.

~*~

The stark black and white of the mayor's office had always been comforting. Regina had redone the entire space, with her own money, from the terrible 70s wood paneling and heavy furniture. The modern office was clean and allowed her to focus only on her thoughts and objectives for the day. Today, the contrast illuminated all of her thoughts and kept her from being able to distract herself. The budget was before her but her eyes kept crossing and she kept seeing Henry instead.

Clicking on the circular button on her phone, Regina sighed in frustration at seeing no new updates. 

“Regina,” Trina’s head was poking in around the door. “There’s someone here, but I can--”

The door was shoved wide and Trina was pushed out of the way. “Hey,” her secretary chirped angrily. “No one said that you could come in here. The mayor is busy and she will see you when she sees you.”

Moe French didn’t care much what her secretary had to say. He barged right in while she chastised him. The grin on his face was sinister and she wanted him out of her office. Still, she was his mayor even if he had never voted for her. She managed a polite smile. 

“Mr. French, what can I do for you?”

“Heard about your boy.”

All of her strength went into not having her face move at all. She instead stared blankly at him, holding her rage back. Regina was her mother’s daughter and she was not going to allow a bully to upset her. 

If Moe French had heard that Henry was missing, then her mother and sister must have heard. Funny that she was seeing a man who hated her before her own flesh and blood. “Are you here to offer up information, Mr. French? If so, I appreciate it, but please take to the police as they are looking for any leads.”

“How does it feel, Mrs. Mills? To lose your child?”

Regina blinked, trying to understand what the pudgy, disheveled man was getting at. “Excuse me?”

His teeth clenched together and Moe’s voice was a growl as he asked again, “How does it feel to lose your child?”

Regina arched her eyebrow up, giving him a look that her mother had taught her to perfect. “Are you suggesting you lost your child?” She allowed a derisive snort to escape as she looked back at the budget before her. “Last I saw, Belle was here running the library. She might even speak to you, but I wouldn’t know anything about that.”

“My daughter moved in with your monster of a step-father and you wouldn’t prosecute him.”

Regina sighed and put her pencil off to the side. “Your daughter moved in with him after she graduated from high school, Mr. French. She had been 18 for almost a year. There is no proof that they began a relationship before she turned 18. Trust me, my mother wanted nothing more than to have his head on a pike and if she could have sent him to prison for sexual abuse of a minor she would have. Also, my office does not run the prosecutor’s office or the sheriff's department. If that wasn't enough, your daughter never pressed charges against Mr. Gold.

“That being said, your daughter moved out, to my understanding, because you forbid her to see her boyfriend, even if he was close to your age. While I don’t blame you, that is very different than having your child snatched off the street for whatever insane reason a person has to kidnap a child. Your daughter was visible around town during the two years she lived with Gold. My son is missing.”

“My son is missing,” she repeated, gritting her teeth together and keeping the venom in her voice. “He has been taken by criminals and while you and I agree that my former step-father is likely a criminal, you had the ability to hold on to your daughter. My son was walking home from school. Your daughter was an adult, legally. My son is twelve.”

If she could burn him with her eyes, she would have. As it was, she picked up her pencil, refusing to let him bring her to her feet or truly see her shaken.

Looking down, she glanced over the documents with unseeing eyes. The words were blurs that looked like a foreign tongue. “You will leave my office or I will throw you out.” Regina was proud of the calmness that existed within her voice. 

After a few moments, with not a sound, Regina looked up to see him still standing there. She felt the fire light in her eyes again. This time, her voice was a low growl. “Do it now.”

Her hard gaze followed Moe French as he scrambled backwards out of her office, her heavy white doors closing behind him. Regina felt the tears forming behind her eyes. She was not going to let the bastard take her off track for the day. Facing Gold and Walsh at the budget meeting was not what she was looking forward to. She would do it, however, because she had a town to run. Regina was not about to let anyone push her off course.


End file.
